Lamp-support assembly



1967 A. E. BLOOMBERG 3,346,734

LAMP SUPPORT ASSEMBLY Filed Oct. 25, 1965 I bl I INVENTOR ALLAN E. BLOOMBERG 3;;- g M 42 J A TonmzYs United States Patent 3,346,734 LAMP-SUPPORT ASSEMBLY Allan E. Bloomberg, 199 Palisade Ave., Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. 10522 Filed Oct. 23, 1965, Ser. No. 503,761 Claims. (Cl. 240-53) The present invention relates to lamps.

More particularly, the present invention relates to lamps which are customaritly used by mechanics and the like. Lamps of this latter type generally are situated at the end of a flexible cord and are required to be placed in locations such as beneath automobiles, and the like.

With lamps of this type the user must often use both hands to take care of operations other than holding the lamp at a proper attitude. Therefore, the problem arises as to how to support the lamp so that its light is directed in a desired direction while at the same time giving the operator complete freedom to carry out manipulations other than holding the lamp properly positioned. Up to the present time this problem has not been satisfactorily solved.

It is therefore a primary object of the invention to provide a lamp assembly of the above general type which can be placed by the operator on any supporting surface at a selected one of a plurality of different attitudes so that the lamp will direct its light in a selected direction, without requiring the operator to give up the use of one hand for the purpose of properly holding the light.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a structure of this type which is exceedingly simple and inexpensive.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a structure of the above type which can be used under all types of operating conditions, such as in extreme cold as well as in extreme heat, and in locations where there is not much space accessible.

It is furthermore an object of the present invention to provide for a lamp of the above type a structure which is easy to handle and carry about as well as to manipulate so as to be capable of being maintained at a selected orientation.

Primarily with the structure of the invention the lamp assembly will include a hollow container which forms part of a support means for the lamp and which has an exterior wall provided with a plurality of wall portions whose outer surfaces are flat and situated in planes which have a non-parallel relationship with respect to each other so that these planes intersect. The opera-tor can place a selected one of these flat surfaces on an upwardly directed supporting surface. Within the container is situated a fluent weight means which has a weight suflicient to maintain the lamp assembly stably at its selected attitude, and this fluent weight means automatically becomes situated over that one of the flat surfaces which it is selected to place on the upwardly directed supporting surface, so that through this simple structure it is possible for the operator reliably to situate a lamp on a supporting surface in such a way that the light will be directed in a preselected direction.

The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings which form part of the application and in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of one possible structure of a lamp assembly according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal section of the structure of FIG. 1 taken along line 2--2 of FIG. 1 in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of another embodiment of a lamp assembly according to the invention; and

FIG. 4 is a transverse section of the structure of FIG.

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3 taken along line 44 of FIG. 3 in the direction of the arrows.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 a lamp assembly 10 which includes a handle 12, so that the operator by grasping the handle 12 can conveniently carry the lamp about. The lamp includes a flexible cord 14 capable of being placed in any suitable wall plug or the like for the purpose of providing communication between the lamp and a source of electricity.

The lamp assembly 10 includes a lamp support means, and this latter support means includes a hollow container provided with an inner wall 16 which also functions as a lamp reflector. This reflector 16 is removably connected with a suitable cage 18 to define with the latter a space for housing the bulb 20 of the lamp, this bulb 20 being received in a suitable socket situated at the lower end of the handle .12, as viewed in FIG. 2.

The container of the invention, in addition to having the inner wall 16, has an outer wall 22 provided with a plurality of wall portions 24 which extend at various different angles and which have fiat exterior surfaces situated in planes some of which have non-parallel relationships with respect to others so that they intersect each other. With this construction it is possible for the operator to place a selected one of the flat exterior surfaces of the wall portions 24 on a suitable upwardly directed supporting surface so as to situate the entire lamp assembly 10 at a selected attitude.

a Within the hollow container is situated a fluent weight means 26 which in the illustrated example is in the form of a liquid which may be an anti-freeze liquid of the type used in automobile engines as a coolant which will not freeze at relatively low temperatures. This fluent weight means 26 will of course cover whichever wall portion 24 is selected to be placed at the bottom on a suitable upwardly directed supporting surface.

The outer wall of the container is fluid-tightly fixed with the inner 'wall 16 as by being welded thereto with a weldment 28, and this weldment is of course provided after the fluent weight means 26 is situated in the interior of the container.

Therefore, with the structure as described above it is possible for the operator to place the entire lamp assembly on a suitable supporting surface such as a floor at any one of a number of different attitudes and the weight 26 will automatically flow over the lowermost surface to reliably maintain the entire assembly at a selected orientation. In this way it is possible for the light from the bulb 20 to be directed by the reflector 16 in a selected direction without requiring the operator to manipulate the lamp in any way once it is set at its selected orientation.

Another embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4. In this embodiment the lamp assembly 30 includes a handle 32 and a cord 34 which may be identical with the handle 12 and the cord 14.

In this case also there is a hollow container which forms part of a support means for the lamp assembly, and this hollow container again includes an inner wall 36 which simultaneously functions as a reflector for the lamp. To this inner wall '36 is connected the cage 38 which forms with the wall 36 a housing for the bulb 40 which is situated in a socket carried by the inner end of the handle 32 in a conventional manner.

The hollow container whose inner wall is formed by the reflector 36 includes an outer wall 42 made up of a plurality of wall portions also situated in different planes so as to intersect each other and thus give the operator the opportunity of selecting which of the exterior flat surfaces of the wall 42 to place on a suitable upwardly directed supporting surface for maintaining the lamp stably at a selected orientation. In this embodiment, however, the exterior wall portions include a pair of opposed parallel wall portions 46a and 46b as well as a transverse wall portion 44 extending perpendicularly across the wall portions 46a and 4611, so that with this construction the operator can, by placing the wall 44 on a support surface, direct the light upwardly. On the other hand, the operator by selecting one of the Walls 46a or 46b can direct the light either to the right or to the left in a substantially horizontal direction.

With this embodiment also the outer wall 42 of the container is fixed to the inner wall 36 by a suitable weldment 48, so that in this way the interior of the container is fluid-tightly close-d off from the outer atmosphere.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 3 and 4 the fluent weight means 50 situated in the interior of the container is solid and in the illustrated example takes the form of metal pellets such as lead shot. This fluent weight means 50 will of course become automatically situated over whichever selected exterior flat surface of the wall 42 is placed on the horizontal upwardly directed supporting surface.

In order to promote a favorable distribution of the fluent weight means Stl there is situated in the interior of the container elongated ribs 52 which substantially bisect the angles between the parallel walls 46a and 46b and the transverse wall 44., in the manner shown in FIG. 4. In this Way a distribution of the pellets 50 according to which the center of gravity of the mass of pellets will be situated closer to the center of the selected wall will be promoted.

It is to be noted, furthermore, that with the embodiment of FIGS. 3 and 4 the container has a front end Wall 54 shown in FIG. 3. The entire assembly can be placed on end, on this front end wall 54, so that in this way a further attitude of the assembly can be provided.

It is thus apparent that with the above-described relatively simple structure it is possible for the user of the lamp to set it up at any selected one of a number of different attitudes in which it will be reliably maintained without any further attention on the part of the operator, so that in this way the operators hands are free for other operations.

I claim:

1. For use with a lamp, lamp-support means including a hollow container having an exterior wall provided with a plurality of wall portions respectively having flat exterior surfaces situated in different planes which have a non-parallel relationship with respect to each other, and fluent weight means situated in the interior of said container to become automatically situated over whichever one of said flat exterior surfaces is placed on an upwardly directed supporting surface on which the lamp is to be mounted, so that the lamp can have a selected one of a plurality of different orientations in accordance with that one of said flat surfaces which the operator selects to place on the upwardly directed supporting surface, said fluent weight means having sufiicient Weight to maintain the lamp stably in its selected orientation.

2. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said container has an inner wall which forms a reflector for the lamp.

3. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said fluent Weight means is a liquid.

4. The combination of claim 3 and wherein said liquid is an anti-freeze liquid.

5. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said weight means is solid.

6. The combination of claim 5 and wherein said solid weight means is in the form of a plurality of relatively heavy particles of matter.

7. The combination of claim 6 and wherein said particles are made of lead and are in the form of lead shot.

8. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said fluent weight means is in the form of solid pellets and said container having in its interior distributing ribs which distribute the pellets over the selected fiat surface which is placed on the upwardly directed supporting surface.

9. A lamp assembly adapted to be mounted at a selected one of a plurality of difierent attitudes, comprising a hollow container having an inner wall forming a lamp reflector and an outer wall having a plurality of wall por tions provided with exterior flat surfaces situated respectively in planes at least one of which intersects the others, so that the lamp can have different selected attitudes according to which of said surfaces is placed on an upwardly directed supporting surface, and fluent weight means situated in the interior of said container and having suflicient weight to stably maintain the lamp at its selected attitude, said inner and outer walls of said container being fluidtightly connected to each other so that the fluent weight means is situated in the interior thereof fluid-tightly closed off from the outer atmosphere, and a lamp socket fixed to said container for supporting a lamp in front of said re fiector.

It The combination of claim 9 and wherein said outer wall of said container has a pair of opposed parallel wall portions provided with parallel exterior fiat surfaces and a third wall portion extending perpendicularly across said pair of opposed wall portions, so that the lamp can be situated in one of three different attitudes.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 326,979 9/1885 Heiman 24026 XR 2,280,523 4/1942 Hauff 2401022 XR 2,806,131 9/1957 Palmer 240l.2 2,889,450 6/1959 Nordquist et al. 240-l0.65

NORTON ANSHER, Primary Examiner.

RICHARD M. SHEER, Assistant Examiner. 

1. FOR USE WITH A LAMP, LAMP-SUPPORT MEANS INCLUDING A HOLLOW CONTAINER HAVING AN EXTERIOR WALL PROVIDED WITH A PLURALITY OF WALL PORTIONS RESPECTIVELY HAVING FLAT EXTERIOR SURFACES SITUATED IN DIFFERENT PLANES WHICH HAVE A NON-PARALLEL RELATIONSHIP WITH RESPECT TO EACH OTHER, AND FLUENT WEIGHT MEANS SITUATED IN THE INTERIOR OF SAID CONTAINER TO BECOME AUTOMATICALLY SITUATED OVER WHICHEVER ONE OF SAID FLAT EXTERIOR SURFACES IS PLACED ON AN UPWARDLY DIRECTED SUPPORTING SURFACE ON WHICH THE LAMP IS TO BE 